Fifty-five per cent of brokers said that working with a rich mix of clients is the single greatest thing about being an insurance broker. Yet it comes as little surprise to find that customers also figure pretty highly as the cause of small, day-to-day irritations. So we asked brokers to define the kinds of customer they found most frustrating:

The Penny-Pinchers
According to nearly three quarters (73 per cent) of brokers, the ‘penny-pincher’ – a person for whom only free advice is good advice – is the most frustrating kind of customer.

The Armchair Broker
A further quarter (24 per cent) were just as put out by the ‘armchair broker’, a customer who persistently attempts to second-guess their expertise, while many others cited clients who deferred to the questionable knowledge of ‘mates down the pub’, as a common source of exasperation.

The Cynic
For nearly half (44 per cent) of brokers, it wasn’t over-confidence but cynicism that proved the most wearying customer characteristic, with many complaining that
customers often don’t truly appreciate the independence of their advice.